{"product_id":"the-end-of-october-isbn-9780593081143","title":"The End of October","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER \u003c\/b\u003e• From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Looming Tower\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ea riveting thriller and “all-too-convincing chronicle of science, espionage, action and speculation” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt an internment camp in Indonesia, forty-seven people are pronounced dead with acute hemorrhagic fever. When epidemiologist Henry Parsons travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, what he finds will have staggering repercussions. Halfway across the globe, the deputy director of U.S. Homeland Security scrambles to mount a response to the rapidly spreading pandemic leapfrogging around the world, which she believes may be the result of an act of biowarfare. And a rogue experimenter in man-made diseases is preparing his own terrifying solution. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs already-fraying global relations begin to snap, the virus slashes across the United States, dismantling institutions and decimating the population. With his own wife and children facing diminishing odds of survival, Henry travels from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia to his home base at the CDC in Atlanta, searching for a cure and for the origins of this seemingly unknowable disease. \u003ci\u003eThe End of October \u003c\/i\u003eis a one-of-a-kind thriller steeped in real-life political and scientific implications, filled with the insight that has been the hallmark of Wright’s acclaimed nonfiction and the full-tilt narrative suspense that only the best fiction can offer.“A swift and all-too-convincing chronicle of science, espionage, action and speculation that moves from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia to the U.S. as it eerily evokes real-life current events.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—The Wall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A fast-paced thriller with big, sweeping, made-for-the-adapted-screenplay action sequences. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe End of October \u003c\/i\u003eis the perfect novel for a long airplane flight or a beach chair.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—NPR\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A maniacal page-turner. . . . It read[s] as if it’s been shot out of a cannon.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Wright] applies the magisterial force of his reporting skills into spinning a novel of pestilence, war, and social collapse that, given the current pandemic, cuts exceedingly close to the bone. . . . Chilling.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “[\u003ci\u003eThe End of October\u003c\/i\u003e] imagines a global pandemic in which an unfamiliar virus works its way around the world, leaving economic meltdown, conspiracy theories, and mass death in its wake. . . . The propulsive plot is counterweighted with rigorous, gracefully presented context on the history and behavior of diseases.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A deeply researched scenario-play of a novel told in brisk, unsparing prose. . . . There’s a compulsive thrill to reading a book which grazes, and then runs off with, our increasingly ungraspable reality.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Some works of fiction seem ripped from the headlines. Others anticipate the news, providing a prophetic vision of our future. Lawrence Wright's new novel, \u003ci\u003eThe End of October,\u003c\/i\u003e belongs in the rare second category.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—CNN\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “What makes \u003ci\u003eThe End of October\u003c\/i\u003e compelling to read right now is that Wright researched the hell out of what kind of infrastructure the US would need to survive a pandemic. He concluded that we did not have it. And then he drew on his formidable knowledge of domestic and international politics to imagine what would ensue. . . . Wright is undoubtedly a gifted reporter and observer of the world.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eVox\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Harrowing. . . . Wright is excellent at gracefully working the science of viruses into the narrative. . . . The second half is almost pure action—pure, heart-stopping action. . . . This book will wake you up, and keep you awake.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “As captivating as it is disorienting. . . . Even taken as speculative fiction, the author approaches his subject with gravity befitting the stakes. . . . Throughout, Wright keeps the various threads pulled taut—medicine, military matters, international intrigue, economics.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Texas Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A thriller for our times. . . . Like all good thrillers, \u003ci\u003eThe End of October\u003c\/i\u003e diverts us from the real world while keeping a firm base there, letting us imagine not only disaster but the ways out of it.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eTampa Bay Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “[A] multifaceted thriller . . . Wright pulls few punches and imbues even walk-on characters with enough humanity that their fate will matter to readers. This timely literary page-turner shows Wright is on a par with the best writers in the genre.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLawrence Wright \u003c\/b\u003eis a staff writer for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker,\u003c\/i\u003e a playwright, a screenwriter, and the author of ten books of nonfiction, including  \u003ci\u003eThe Looming Tower, Going Clear,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGod Save Texas,\u003c\/i\u003e and one previous novel, \u003ci\u003eGod's Favorite\u003c\/i\u003e. His books have received many honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for \u003ci\u003eThe Looming Tower.\u003c\/i\u003e He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.Dear Readers, \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe events depicted in \u003ci\u003eThe End of October \u003c\/i\u003ewere meant to serve as a cautionary tale. But real life doesn’t always wait for warnings. As I write, the entire world is enveloped in a viral disease much like the one I imagined within these pages.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eIt’s been said that the book is a kind of prophecy, but I see it simply as the result of careful research. I asked the question: what is the gravest threat to human civilization? Nuclear war and global warming are existential threats, but throughout history diseases have periodically capsized societies. A century has passed since the 1918 “Spanish” flu that killed between fifty and a hundred million people. What if something like that returned, in our time, where travel is rapid and cities are densely populated and public health has receded as a primary concern? \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eI have applied the same rigorous standards that I bring to my nonfiction. Nothing presented here as factual is invented. I interviewed many scientists and epidemiologists who are now at the forefront of America’s effort to constrain the pandemic. As for the geopolitics I describe, I merely extended trends I observed in the world to certain logical conclusions. I spoke to top government officials and military figures. Everyone I spoke to shared the concerns I expressed herein—something like this \u003ci\u003ecould\u003c\/i\u003e happen. And now it has. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eOf course, this book is a novel. One with heroes and villains and a clock ticking in the background. It was exciting to research and to write, and what I learned gave me hope about our institutions and the people who are working to shield us from catastrophe. I was particularly impressed by the ingenuity and courage of the people who have dedicated their lives to public health. It is to them that the novel is dedicated. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eI hope you enjoy it. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eLawrence Wright","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305320435941,"sku":"NP9780593081143","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593081143.jpg?v=1767739183","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-end-of-october-isbn-9780593081143","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}